by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Severe storms lashed portions of the central USA late Thursday, bringing hail, high winds and a few reports of tornadoes. No injuries or deaths were reported.

Six tornadoes were spotted in Missouri and one in Iowa, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Okla.

One tornado near Jameson, Mo., destroyed a home and outbuilding and downed seven power poles across a highway, the Weather Channel reported.

At least four homes were damaged by a possible tornado around Trenton, Mo. One home's walls were heavily damaged and its roof removed just south of Tindall, Mo.

"While only a small fraction of these storms have produced funnel clouds and tornadoes, the majority of them dumped hail throughout extreme eastern Kansas and Missouri," said weather.com meteorologist Chrissy Warrilow.

Hail up to 2 inches in diameter - slightly larger than golf-ball-size - pelted the southern and eastern sides of the Kansas City metropolitan area. A brief tornado touched down near Osceola, Iowa, but produced only minor damage, the Weather Channel reported.

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service are investigating the damage in Missouri and Iowa to determine the size, strength and path of the tornadoes.

More severe weather is forecast for today from Texas to Tennessee. "These storms will have the potential to produce not only drenching downpours and damaging winds, but also isolated tornadoes starting Friday afternoon and continuing into Friday night," said AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Lada.

Cities such as Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Little Rock and Memphis all could see severe storms today, the Storm Prediction Center forecast.

Saturday, the severe weather threat will shift to the Carolinas and Georgia. Heavy rain - but no severe storms - could drench the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday. No severe weather is forecast for Sunday.